Austro engine reliability and safety
Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2023 5:25 am
I regularly read Aviation Safety and the accident reports. The accident summaries they print are dominated by engine failures. There have been a number of posts on DAN about Austro engine issues in the last two years which has understandably raised concerns about Austro engine reliability. Since I fly an Austro powered plane, and have another on order, I thought I’d check the NTSB database to see what I could find.
I searched for Diamond’s after 1/1/2010 (the Austro was introduced in 2010), and reports that contained NG, 42 or 62. Then I eliminated all the 42’s with Lycoming or TDI engines. What remained were 13 reports.
DA40NG: 5
DA42: 6
DA62 2
Of those 13, only two were due to engine failures and none resulted in a fatality. That said, if the engine failure does not result in an accident, it’s not in the NTSB database. The NTSB reporting is not very consistent and it’s not possible to search on engine manufacturer, so it's possible that a DA40NG accident was reported as a DA40. One DA40NG off field landing that experienced a reduction in power due to an improperly attached induction hose did not show up in my searches. And at least two others that did not result in accidents have been discussed in DAN. That would bump the total to five.
The DA62 failure in Dallas is unresolved, but I think it’s fair to say that a system failure that results in loss of both engines is an engine failure, just as failure of two magnetos would result in a Lycoming engine failure. So that makes six planes, seven engines, and no fatalities.
As of November 2021, based on analysis of several sources within Diamond, I calculated:
Austro aircraft: 374
Austro engines: 595
Back to Aviation Safety, only one, the one not in the NTSB database (improperly installed induction hose), was engine failure on take off, which seems to be the most common time for an engine failure in non-Austro aircraft. Engine failure in cruise and at altitude probably makes a large contribution to the lack of fatalities.
I’m sure others can slice, dice and speculate on what this all means.
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October 2012 DA42NG N607PA: Hard landing
** December 2016 DA40NG N605SJ: Engine failure - piston fatigue crack
April 2017 DA40NG N154BY: Loss of power due to failure of generic (i.e., not an authorized Austro part) induction hoses between intake manifold and turbocharger
September 2017 DA40NG N910XD: Student pilot - porpoising and RLOC
April 2018 DA42NG: Taxi collision with stationery aircraft
May 2019: DA62 G-MDME: LOC due to wake turbulence on final
July 2019 DA42NG N805PA: Gear up landing
April 2020 DA42 N311ER: LOC during go around
June 2021 40NG N853L: stall / spin / LOC
** March 2022 40NG N471BL: Engine failure
April 2022 DA42 N822SA: Landing gear collapse on rollout
September 2022 DA42: Airplane flipped on the ramp by a microburst
** October 2022 DA62 N84LT: Loss of both engines due to electrical failure
I searched for Diamond’s after 1/1/2010 (the Austro was introduced in 2010), and reports that contained NG, 42 or 62. Then I eliminated all the 42’s with Lycoming or TDI engines. What remained were 13 reports.
DA40NG: 5
DA42: 6
DA62 2
Of those 13, only two were due to engine failures and none resulted in a fatality. That said, if the engine failure does not result in an accident, it’s not in the NTSB database. The NTSB reporting is not very consistent and it’s not possible to search on engine manufacturer, so it's possible that a DA40NG accident was reported as a DA40. One DA40NG off field landing that experienced a reduction in power due to an improperly attached induction hose did not show up in my searches. And at least two others that did not result in accidents have been discussed in DAN. That would bump the total to five.
The DA62 failure in Dallas is unresolved, but I think it’s fair to say that a system failure that results in loss of both engines is an engine failure, just as failure of two magnetos would result in a Lycoming engine failure. So that makes six planes, seven engines, and no fatalities.
As of November 2021, based on analysis of several sources within Diamond, I calculated:
Austro aircraft: 374
Austro engines: 595
Back to Aviation Safety, only one, the one not in the NTSB database (improperly installed induction hose), was engine failure on take off, which seems to be the most common time for an engine failure in non-Austro aircraft. Engine failure in cruise and at altitude probably makes a large contribution to the lack of fatalities.
I’m sure others can slice, dice and speculate on what this all means.
************************************************
October 2012 DA42NG N607PA: Hard landing
** December 2016 DA40NG N605SJ: Engine failure - piston fatigue crack
April 2017 DA40NG N154BY: Loss of power due to failure of generic (i.e., not an authorized Austro part) induction hoses between intake manifold and turbocharger
September 2017 DA40NG N910XD: Student pilot - porpoising and RLOC
April 2018 DA42NG: Taxi collision with stationery aircraft
May 2019: DA62 G-MDME: LOC due to wake turbulence on final
July 2019 DA42NG N805PA: Gear up landing
April 2020 DA42 N311ER: LOC during go around
June 2021 40NG N853L: stall / spin / LOC
** March 2022 40NG N471BL: Engine failure
April 2022 DA42 N822SA: Landing gear collapse on rollout
September 2022 DA42: Airplane flipped on the ramp by a microburst
** October 2022 DA62 N84LT: Loss of both engines due to electrical failure